YouTube Digest is a look at some of the most popular new YouTube videos of the week. Today we have an Irish guy subjecting his mother to the horrors of gay hookup apps, a dedicated dog who just cannot catch a damn thing, a rare surprise video that isn’t awful to watch, and a special burst of patriotism to send you into your weekends.

MOM READS SON’S GRINDR MESSAGES - 1,644,926 views

This video is exactly what the title suggests. It’s a mom reading, aloud, various messages that her son, a young quiffed gay Irishman named Riyadh, has received on the gay social app Grindr. The idea being that it’s funny for a mom to read lascivious sexual invitations sent to her handsome son by weird, sad strangers. Only, it’s not that funny? Isn’t there a subtle current of mean-spiritedness running through this video like a murmur? Because they’re making fun of how some of the men look, yes, but also because they’re sort of making fun of the fact that these guys are reaching out at all? Aren’t they? Am I crazy? I don’t know. I sense something a little shaming about this whole video and I don’t like it. I also don’t like this trend of bringing parents into YouTube videos as a sort of prop. Those Rhodes Bros did it with their coming out video, these clowns did it, and now this Riyadh fellow is doing it. There’s something distinctly unpleasant about it. It’s mostly that I don’t like seeing parents being made uncomfortable on camera but staying on camera because they were asked by their child to do it. You know, they want to participate in their child’s life and be supportive and whatnot, but they also don’t really want to be on camera, reading Grindr messages in front of a bunch of strangers. And you can tell, you can see it flickering in their eyes. It’s bad! I don’t like it. I don’t like it one bit. Some things are for parents and some things are not and that’s that. So I don’t like this video, is what I’m saying. This Riyadh fellow, cute and brogued as he is, will likely have a fine little YouTube career for himself, which he clearly desperately wants, and there’s no use in trying to stop that. But no more Grindr videos. And, kids of Twitter, no more screenshots of Grindr conversations. It’s mean! It’s mean. Unless someone says something egregiously awful, it’s mean. Don’t do it. OK. That’s it. Carry on.

Fritz Learns to Catch Compilation #1 - 3,576,165 views

This thing is a sensation! Fritz is a sensation. This video, slo-mo footage of poor Fritz repeatedly not catching food that’s thrown to him, wound up on BuzzFeed and elsewhere this week. People went nuts for Fritz. And it’s easy to see why! Poor guy just can’t catch a break. Literally can’t catch one. But he’s resilient. He’s there, isn’t it he? Trying each time, jaunty scarf on, ready to make this the day that he catches the food. Of course he doesn’t. Fritz never catches it, well, not until the very end, and even then it’s barely a catch. Fritz just isn’t good at catching food. Which, hey, we’ve all got stuff we’re bad at, right? Sometimes, if we work at it, we get better. But not always! Sometimes we’re just going to be bad at it forever. And something tells me that Fritz? Well, good ol’ Fritz is probably going to miss the food forever. But hey, he’s got owners who love him enough to put the food on the ground, where it stays still so Fritz can eat it. Sure, they exploit his embarrassment on YouTube, but they do keep him in good scarves. So, it’s a trade-off. I think you’re gonna be just fine, Fritz. I think we’re all gonna be just fine.

Ed Sheeran Surprises Deserving Wedding Couple! - 1,698,553 videos

A lot of times surprise videos are hard to watch. Either because the person being surprised isn’t as surprised as the surprise-r hoped, or because the inherent awkwardness of being surprised—nobody really likes being surprised, it runs counter to instinct learned over thousands of years of human development—is too palpable. And a wedding surprise video? I mean, then you’ve also got the huge potential for rudeness in play—are you sure these people want you stunting up their wedding with some showy surprise? Yeesh. No thanks. But, hey, this surprise video, which mostly takes place at a wedding, is actually kind of nice. Because it’s simple. I don’t love the radio DJs coming in with microphones and sorta pulling focus, but when Sheeran comes in and simply starts playing his tune, it’s good. The couple reacts as one would hope, the song is nice, and then Ed Sheeran politely leaves. Doesn’t make a big fuss about it, doesn’t linger to glad-hand with fans. He just says goodbye and goes. Though, not before making a friendly, cheeky joke about making lots of babies. Good for him! Good for this surprise video. For being one of the rare ones that isn’t really, at root, an excuse for the person doing the surprising to make someone else’s special moment all about them. And congrats to the happy couple! Every day isn’t going to be a surprise Ed Sheeran concert, for sure, but there’s still plenty to look forward to.

Friend Fights: 20s Vs 30s - 650,863 views

All I’m going to say about this video is that neither of these actors are in their 30s, so how would they know? And I kind of doubt that whoever wrote this is in their 30s either. Why are all these 20s Vs 30s videos based on the one joke that when you’re in your 30s you get tired and like to go home a lot? Sure that’s perhaps true in some ways (trust me, I’ve been in my 30s for a whole 22 months), but it’s not that true. This video is meaningless, is what I’m saying. Completely meaningless. And yet. Here it is.

National anthem fans at Walmart - 1,340,482 views

Here is something that is not at all meaningless. Here is a video of a couple of weirdo kids screaming into fans at a Walmart. Or, more accurately, singing the National Anthem into fans at Walmart, because the fans make their voices sound funny. That’s what they’re doing, while their mom or dad or whoever takes care of them is off buying stuff they need. Just a coupla kids, yellin’ into the fans. And they’re committed to it! At one point another kid is involved, but then a fourth kid shows up and realizes that someone (a little creepily, we must admit!) is filming them, which chases two of them away. But! But two brave kids, who have acknowledged that they are being filmed, they stay. God bless them, these two tiny patriots, they stay and they finish their rousing fan song. These kids are America. These kids are our dreams. These kids are the hopeful future of this weary nation. These kids are our spirits, as we send ourselves barreling into the weekend, like voices into a fan. May you enjoy your weekend as much as these two kooks enjoy singin’ into those fans. Have fun, go wild, even if you’re in your 30s, or, hell, your 40s. (If you’re in your 50s or above, you’ve earned the right to take it easy.) Make some noise! This guy knows what I’m talking about. Enjoy it.